1-(2,6-Difluorobenzyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxyamide, namely Rufinamide, of formula (I), is a known compound with anticonvulsive action, specifically used in combination with other antiepileptic medicaments for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,680 discloses the synthesis of Rufinamide through 1-(2,6-difluorobenzyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylic acid of formula (II), which is in turn obtained by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of 2,6-difluorobenzyl azide of formula (III) with propiolic acid of formula (IV) (Scheme 1):

wherein the reaction is carried out at 70° C. reacting 2,6-difluorobenzyl azide with propiolic acid in toluene for several hours.
This procedure, however, suffers from various problems which limit its applicability on an industrial scale, in particular the following ones:
1) the thermal cycloaddition of the alkylazide of formula (III) with an alkyne of formula (IV), as defined above, leads to mixtures of 1,4 and 1,5 disubstituted regioisomer triazoles (Scheme 2).

2) the alkyl azides are potentially explosive, the explosion risk increasing at higher temperatures, therefore it is safer to carry out reactions involving alkyl azides at about room temperature instead of high temperatures.
There is therefore the need for an alternative industrial process which allows to prepare Rufinamide on a large scale, safely and with improved regioisomeric selectivity and higher chemical purity.